U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,262 dated Sep. 24, 1996 and entitled "Plastic Bag Dispenser" (hereinafter the '262 patent) illustrates a number of different plastic bag dispensers wherein plastic bags can be dispensed and separated from a roll of bags. In the embodiment of the dispenser shown in FIGS. 13-18 of the '262 patent, a braking force is applied to the roll by friction due to the weight of the roll. The axle, which supports the roll, sits in opposing tracks which are shaped so that the component of force which causes the friction increases as the roll is depleted. The object is to provide a braking force which, regardless of the size of the roll, is not so great as to prevent rotation of the roll in normal use yet will provide sufficient braking force when the roll is small to prevent free wheeling of the roll. In the illustrated embodiment, a separate friction roller is used to brake the roll when the roll is almost depleted. U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,262 is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
The present invention provides a dispenser of the type shown in the '262 patent wherein the use of a friction roller is not required to retard or brake rotation of the roll when its diameter is small.
The dispenser of the '262 patent is designed to be mounted in a particular orientation. If the orientation of the dispenser is changed significantly, the braking force may become greater or less than desired. Proper orientation of the dispenser is not a problem if the dispenser is mounted on a stationary surface but it is becoming increasingly common in grocery stores for produce to be offered to customers on what are known as "European tables". These are tables in which the surface is pivotable by raising the back of the table. If a plastic bag dispenser as shown in the '262 patent is fixed to such a table, its orientation will not be optimal for all table positions.
Accordingly, a further object of this invention is to provide a dispenser support for use with a pivotable supporting surface which can be easily adjusted to maintain the dispenser in its optimal orientation for all positions of the supporting surface.